RH8 HTML - WebHelp: Topic link in TOC goes to wrong topic

[karimc]

I just got my upgrade to RH8 today, and I must say it has NOT been a pleasant experience so far. This issue is just one of many I will probably be posting in the next few days.

I have one RH file that I use to create two versions of help text, using conditional tags to separate out the content. In RH 7 this has worked very well. After my upgrade to RH8 today, I generated each of these files, and discovered that one of the files has the incorrect topic attached to the link in the TOC. I checked the TOC in RH, and everything is fine. I also checked the breadcrumbs, which show the correct location, and I checked the conditional tags and conditional build expressions, but still the wrong topic is displayed.

Has the way conditional tags worked changed in any way? I haven't changed anything in the files today, just opened them in RH8. My conditional build expression is created so that if the tag exists on the topic, it is included in the generated help, but there are many topics that include two conditional tags. These seem to be the ones that have the issues.

On top of this, if I am in help A and I search for a topic that is in help B, it still shows me topics that should only be included in help B.

Seriously. Can all this get messed up simply by opening my help file in RH8? On my first day using it? What other unpleasant surprises do I have in store? Well, other than that nasty looking search results box with the big numbered rank column I can't get rid of.

Kari

[Peter Grainge]

Nothing has changed about the way CBTs and Build Expressions work.

It has always been the case that using the CBT to exclude topics rather than include works much better, especially with multiple CBTs in a topic.

Take a copy of your project and do some experimenting. Leave the tags as they are but rethink the log of the CBTs, renaming them if necessary and then change your expressions so that content is EXcluded.

I'm sure it will work OK. Post back if not.

---

See www.grainge.org for RoboHelp and Authoring tips

[karimc]

But why did it work just fine in RH7 and it suddenly doesn't in RH8? Is there some new feature that might be interfering? Some new checkbox that I need to uncheck? I honestly just opened and generated the file.

When I originally set up the conditional tags in RH7, I tried to use the option to exclude topics, but I could never get it to work right, no matter how much I played with it. It always seemed to exclude topics I needed to include, which was why I set up the conditional build expression to include topics instead of excluding them.

I will play around with this today, and if I figure out what is going on, I will post back.

Kari

[Peter Grainge]

I would have told you if I knew!

Let us know how the rework goes.

---

See www.grainge.org for RoboHelp and Authoring tips

[karimc]

Well, I've discovered a solution to this initial problem, and it has nothing to do with the conditional tags. I think I'll have to start a new discussion to get a resolution to why those don't seem to be working correctly.

After trying a number of things, I stumbled upon the fix, which is, as I've come to expect, completely illogical.

In reviewing the html for the help topic that wasn't appearing correctly, I noticed that the topic was associated with a template called "Main". I inherited this help project, and have never used the templates, always relying on a .css file to handle the styles and formatting. If I went into the topic properties and changed the template to "none", then re-generated the project, the topic link in the TOC went to the correct file.

One problem solved, though why it works is still beyond me. Now on to the conditional build issue!

Kari